Veteran Reunited With His Beloved Dogs Thanks To Kindness Of Strangers

Who's chopping onions?

A video posted by Love What Matters has gone viral this month and it perfectly captures the spirit of the season.

In it, we see the touching moment when a Vietnam veteran — identified only as James by Camden, Delaware's First State Animal Center, and whose dogs, Baily and Blaze were put up for adoption after he suffered a heart attack — is reunited with his canine companions.

After James' September heart attack, his two dogs were put into safekeeping by animal control and housed at a shelter. While recovering, James was unable to get his dogs and, after a few weeks, the animals were put up for adoption.

On December 16, James was well enough to come to the store to put a deposit down on the adoption fee to get Baily and Blaze back.

Thanks to kind-hearted kennel tech, Melissa Eagle, however, he didn't have to. Eagle had tended to the dogs at the shelter and had seen how much James loved them when he had visited.

She reached out volunteers from previous animal events to help cover the adoption fund — which had already been reduced by more than half by the shelter's office manager — and the donations began pouring in.

This is what happened when James arrived at a PetSmart to come get his dogs.